During a workshop organized by the Asharqia Chamber
Eastern Province Municipality: updating the list of health conditions for workers' housing within the urban area
Asharqia Chamber, represented by the Real Estate and Urban Development Committee, in cooperation with the Eastern Province Municipality, held a workshop entitled "Partnership in Improving the Housing Environment for Workers and Individuals", through video calling on Wednesday evening 16 December 2020.
An Engineer Mazen bin Adel Bakhraji, Under-Secretary of the Assistant Secretary for Reconstruction and Projects in the Eastern Region Municipality, said during the workshop moderated by Eng. Hamed bin Hamri, Chairman of the Committee, that employment and individuals constitute a large proportion of the number of expatriates in the Kingdom, and that category is distributed among all economic activities, whether industrial and crafts enterprises of various sizes Or commercial establishments or the construction and contracting sector or agricultural and other economic activities, and in general a large proportion of this category resides in residential neighborhoods near work areas, especially workers in commercial establishments and most of the construction and contracting sector institutions that work for the benefit of the public sector or the private sector, These dwellings are characterized by squatter housing and poor living conditions in general.
Speaking about the increase in cases of Coronavirus Infection in the Kingdom in the past period in workers 'housing and its spread to the rest of the regions, Kharji said that it has become necessary to work on urgent solutions to improve the current conditions of workers' housing and to take all measures and procedures that help limit the spread of that virus, as it was It is necessary to work on developing medium and long-term solutions and legislations that contribute to organizing workers' housing and limiting its negative effects on society in general.
For this part, Dr. Abdul-Rahman bin Saleh Al-Shuhail, Director General of Environmental Health at the Secretariat, said that the negative aspects and effects of workers 'and bachelors' housing were poor living and health conditions for workers in these dwellings, overcrowding and high rates of crowding of workers within a single dwelling, and the lack of some of these housing to the minimum health and safety requirements and some Significantly dilapidated, especially with the spread of these dwellings in the old neighborhoods and central areas, in addition to the negative impact on the social fabric in some areas as a result of the proximity of workers' and bachelors' housing units to families' housing in light of the disparity and difference between customs, traditions, and customs, especially with the presence of large numbers of workers from countries other than Arabic.
On the reason for the spread of housing for workers and bachelors, Al-Shuhail explained that this is due to the lack of clear legislation to regulate housing for workers and bachelors, the multiplicity of agencies responsible for workers' accommodation, the absence of a mechanism that defines the role and responsibilities of each party in this, and the low rental rates for shared housing, which encourages employers or workers It is necessary to rent them, especially in light of the prevalence of unskilled workers and loose labor, and the weakness of the control process over the housing of workers and bachelors from the various relevant sectors, and in response to this, the updated regulation of health conditions for workers ’accommodations was adopted, as the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs and the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control approved“ Weqaya ” By updating the list of health conditions for workers ’housing within the urban area to comply with the requirements of the current pandemic of the new Coronavirus (COVID-19), and the updated regulation of health conditions for workers’ housing was adopted, which included a number of site requirements, general requirements for the building, facilities and equipment, requirements for workers, and a number of precautionary measures Of the current situation, and the provisions and monitoring of the implementation of those requirements.
